It is well known in the art to connect the suction tool of a hand vacuum cleaner with the suction stub of the housing by means of a frictionally connected plug connection. Such a suction tool may be a tulle or cross nozzle, carpet nozzle, upholster nozzle, radiator nozzle and the like. If the housing is too close to the suction nozzle, thus impeding the vacuum cleaning operation, use is made of an intermediate pipe, which is insertable between the suction stub of the housing and the suction tool. "Plug connections" are made as plug cones to provide a relatively simple and tight connection between the pipe members. It is often difficult and inconvenient to separate such connected members. Often the only manner to disconnect the inner and the outer cones of the frictionally connected plug is by the use of force or by warming up the overlapping portion of the cone-shaped plug connection.
In other hand vacuum cleaners this disadvantage is avoided by lockable plug connections for the pipe members. In such form-fitting plug connections the connection ends of the pipe members are made cylindrical, and a spring biased detent or a notch such as a ball notch, may be provided for fastening the two together. The spring biased detent or notch ball may be arranged on the inner pipe of the plug connection and engages with a notch opening of the outer pipe. For separating the connection the spring-biased detent is pressed down by a finger against the force of a spring so that the pipe members of the plug connection may be separated by relatively gently pulling the two apart. The disadvantage of such connections is that when pressing the spring-biased detent or notch ball and simultaneously shifting the pipe members in the direction of their axes, the skin of the finger, which presses the ball downwards, may be injured. Another disadvantage is that in some of these connections, the spring pressure is too low or that the spring tension weakens so that the plug connection loosens when under tensile stress as is often unavoidable in vacuum cleaning operations.
For easier handling of the vacuum cleaner it is useful to have the center of gravity of the vacuum cleaner as low as possible, particularly for "overhead" cleaning operations, e.g. for cleaning curtains or the like. When performing other vacuum cleaning operations, e.g. when cleaning the floor under the beds, the housing becomes an impedient because it is often arranged too close to the nozzle so that in this case it is convenient to use an intermediate pipe; however, after inserting the intermediate piece the vacuum cleaner becomes too long, thus being unwieldy.